Preparing the Maternity ward!

This weekend we will make the final preparations for our first lambs! We will be setting up our small barn as a combination labor and delivery area and post partum room. If the weather is fine, the ewes may choose to just deliver their lambs in the pasture, but we will be giving them the option of coming into the barn if they want. After that, we have an area on the opposite side of the shed in which we can confine the new family to allow for bonding time. Only Millie is a proven ewe – the others are all beginners, so they might need to be confined a couple of days to give them time without the distraction of the other ewes.

After delivery, Mom will be given a nice shot of karo syrup in their water for a pick-me-up. The lambs will need to have their cords cut to the proper length and dipped in iodine. Our first ewe to deliver will have to sacrifice to us some of her colostrum. I can’t even imagine what it will be like to milk our first ewe! We will freeze her colostrum in an ice cube tray and save it for any future lambs this season who may be rejected by the ewe and need bottle fed.

After a day or so, everyone gets a workover. Mom gets her “pedicure.” Babies get a shot of Vitamin E/Selenium, as our soil is deficient in this mineral. They’ll also get a ear tag, and we’ll have to start working out their color for their registration. We’re hoping for lots of ewe lambs to build up our flock!

So – in less than a week we could have our first lambing! The countdown is on! I just hope the first one is on the weekend when Roy is here with me!